Stories Of Hope

Yvonne Schaad wasn’t much. That’s what most people walking through New Orleans’ French Quarter probably would’ve said—assuming they would’ve noticed her at all. Yvonne lived on the street, panhandled tourists for spare change by day and tried to sleep under freeway overpasses by night. No one, including Yvonne, ever thought she would or could amount to anything special. But then, everything in Yvonne’s world took an entirely unexpected turn. This is a story told in three acts. Find out how you and your church can help people like Yvonne at SendRelief.org/

Figueroa Street in South Los Angeles is famous for everything a street should not be famous for. Here, there are pimps and prostitutes. Here, human trafficking is out in the open and plain to see. And yet every Friday night, Send Relief missionary Tracy Speers and her team of volunteers are here too. Everyone calls them “the church girls.” This is a story about how girls like that ended up in a place like this. Find out how you and your church can fight human trafficking at SendRelief.org/

They had no money. They had no expertise. They had no experience. And yet, when pastor Chris Simmons and the congregation of Cornerstone Baptist Church learned their South Dallas neighborhood of Fair Park had been designated a “food desert,” they knew they had to do something. In this episode of Stories of Hope, learn how and why a church started what is now one of the most unique and successful grocery stores in all of Texas. Find out how you can help strengthen communities at SendRelief.org/

They called it a “mission trip”. But, as it turns out, that seemingly innocuous title doesn’t come close to describing what happened when Sam Rogers and his mission team from Silverdale Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee traveled to Send Relief’s Atlanta Ministry Center. In this episode of Stories of Hope, follow Sam and his team to Clarkston and find out how God turned a one week mission trip into something far more permanent. Find out how you and your church can get expert guidance and hands-on experience meeting physical needs and sharing Christ’s love with refugees and internationals at SendRelief.org/

Everybody in North Phoenix said it was an eyesore. Everybody said the weed-infested dirt lot at 1827 West Grovers Avenue was good for old burger wrappers, crushed up beer cans and not much else. But then Andrew Bailey and Cross Church moved into the neighborhood and something amazing began to happen. Now five years later, what Andrew and his church have done to this onetime eyesore, and the effect that transformation has had on people’s lives in North Phoenix, has become this community’s Story of Hope. Find out how you can help strengthen communities at SendRelief.org/

It’s easy to walk past the man sleeping on the park bench. But It’s hard to stop. Marshall Jones and Kirk Overstreet can’t help it. They do the hard thing and stop—every time. This is the story of why these two Los Angeles area pastors can’t help but notice the people others choose to ignore. Go to SendRelief.org to learn how you and your church can reach out to people who lack the basics of life.

Sometimes, just wanting a better life is not enough. In this episode of Stories of Hope, meet a mother who needed a mother and hear how God miraculously connected her with someone who could not only teach her how to find a job, how to put a roof over her kids’ heads and how to put food on her family’s table, but could also show her how to acquire the better things in life her heart truly craved. If you’d like to learn more about Cynthia Thelen’s Caring Connections ministry, you can visit them online at https://www.caringconnectionsministry.com Find out how you can help strengthen communities at SendRelief.org/

What is your church doing that 10,000 other churches aren’t doing? The first time someone asked Aaron Taylor that question was when he was starting a church in his hometown of Powell, Ohio. And the answer that he and his church plant team eventually stumbled onto became their Story of Hope.   Find out how you and your church can meet needs and see God change the lives of families who’re arriving in your community from all over the world at SendRelief.org/

The little girls showed up on Linda Durrence’s front porch carrying everything they owned in one, small trash bag. In this episode of Stories of Hope, hear how what happened next would one day bring TV news crews from all over the U.S. to Linda’s tiny hometown of Glennville, Georgia. Find out how you can help protect children and families at SendRelief.org/

When Cyclone Batsirai and Tropical Storm Emnati slammed into the island nation of Madagascar within a few weeks of each other, thousands of people were displaced and dozens killed. Navigating the aftermath of these natural disasters, Send Relief partner Ancil Ragoonath shares about the impact of the Global Hunger Relief fund in the wake of tragedy. Give to Global Hunger Relief at SendRelief.org/give.

If you’re an adult of a certain age, you might remember excitedly opening up a Christmas catalog, flipping through the pages, and circling items you hoped to see under the tree on Christmas morning. In this episode of Stories of Hope, hear how many families are beginning a new tradition with a new gift catalogue. This time, however, they’re not circling gifts to receive but gifts to give. Go to sendrelief.org to see how you, your family and your church can help change someone’s world through the Send Relief Gift Catalogue.

The story of how Reuben Watson went from what he was to what he is, is a story not even the best fiction writer could come up with. In this episode of Stories of Hope, hear the miraculous story about what happened when God took Reuben, a Kentucky child who tried to take his own life “for the first time” when he was 8-years old, and surrounded him with people who loved Jesus.   Find out how you can help protect children and families at SendRelief.org/

It might be the biggest humanitarian crisis you’ve never heard of. When one million Rohingya people were forced to flee their homes in Myanmar, Send Relief partners discovered a creative way to meet their needs and see God change their lives. In this episode of Stories of Hope, hear how they used lights to erase spiritual and literal darkness. Find out how you can help rescue refugees all over the world at SendRelief.org/

Terry Hudgins grew up watching the commercial—the one that began “I’d like to teach the world to sing.” Terry is not a musician and so, he had no idea that one day, God would give him the opportunity to do just that. In this episode of Stories of Hope, find out what happened when Terry’s Nashville church gathered kids from their neighborhood—kids who just happened to come from countries all over the world—and then helped teach them how to make beautiful music together. Find out how you and your church can meet needs and see God change the lives of families who’re arriving in your community from all over the world at SendRelief.org/ You can watch children from the Nashville World Outreach Partnership perform a song at https://vimeo.com/708719371/616139c5eb To learn more about the ministry to refugees and internationals several Nashville churches have launched, visit them online at nashvilleworldoutreach.com

What can one person do? When Russia attacked Ukraine, when tens of thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands more were desperately trying to escape their country, Michael Borton felt like he needed to do something. In this episode of Stories of Hope, travel to Eastern Europe with Michael, a youth pastor from North Carolina, and find out how he met needs and saw God change the lives of Ukrainians who’ve had to leave their homes with little more than the clothes on their backs. Find out how you can reach out to families fleeing the war in Ukraine at SendRelief.org/projects/ukraine

When Jennifer Nolder saw a toddler wandering down the middle of a busy Newnan, Georgia highway, she knew she had to do something. This is not just a story about a lady who brought 39 boys and girls into her home, but a story about how she’s now helping put their broken families back together again. Find out how you can help protect children and families at SendRelief.org. Jennifer began a ministry that helps reunite parents and children who’re in the foster care system. You can learn more about that ministry at hoperevisited.org.

People don’t take trips. Trips take people. That’s what Becca Robinson and Brandon Croley learned earlier this year when they signed up for Send Relief’s Memphis Serve Tour. In this episode of Stories of Hope, listen to the Serve Tour audio diary they recorded and learn with them how the unexpected parts of a trip are often the best parts. Brandon and Becca participated in Send Relief’s Memphis Serve Tour through Forgotten Ministries in Enid, Oklahoma. Visit forgottenministries.com to learn how Forgotten Ministries connects churches to people who need to know the love of Christ. Watch a video that shows what happened when Brandon, Becca and a team of other Serve Tour volunteers partnered with one Memphis pastor at bit.ly/memphismoment Find out how you and your church can participate in a Serve Tour at sendrelief.org/serve-tour/

Ronnie Johnson grew up in a Memphis housing project. He’s been shot four times, he has survived four times and he always knew there must be a reason why he escaped an early death over and over again. This is the story of what happened when Ronnie discovered what that reason was. Watch what happened when volunteer mission teams from Send Relief’s Memphis Serve Tour traveled to Tennessee to work alongside Ronnie. You can see that video at bit.ly/memphismoment Find out how you can help strengthen communities at SendRelief.org/  

Appearances can be deceiving. Everybody used to assume the Cincinnati suburb of Lakota Hills was Anglo and English-speaking. But when Lakota Hills Baptist Church’s English as a Second Language class suddenly went from 5 students to 200, people here realized something unexpected must have taken place. This is a story about what happened when a suburban congregation decided to welcome the world. Find out how you and your church can care for families from all over the world who’re now arriving in your community at SendRelief.org/  

The remote East African village of Kumbawe lived under a witch doctor’s chokehold of fear. But then when she died and her son took over as chief, Send Relief partners recognized they could meet one of the villages most basic human needs and, in doing so, share the gospel. What happened next was as unexpected as it was joyous.